


A Plan

by lha



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, S3:E2 Far From Home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:13:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27268543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lha/pseuds/lha
Summary: Set post episode S3:E2 Far From HomeLate night confessions and plans.
Relationships: Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	A Plan

Hugh spat into the bowl of the toilet one final time and activated the recycling unit. His heart was still hammering, cold sweat drying beneath his pyjamas but he took a couple of deep steadying breaths and tried to slow everything down. This wasn’t a new routine; he’d woken most nights at first, terrified and confused, his autonomous response running haywire. After a few more minutes, he could feel his shoulders begin to relax, his pulse slow and he leant back against the counter, closing his eyes for just a minute.

“Hugh?” Paul’s quiet question from the door made him start. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he said, trying to dredge up a smile and . “Yeah.”

“Which is why you’re sitting on the floor of the bathroom in the dark at oh-two-thirty.” His scepticism was hardly surprising when he put it like that.

“Nightmare,” Hugh admitted after a moment. “But I’m ok,” he added levering himself up, “and you shouldn’t be up and about.”

“I have done nothing but sleep for days.”

“Which is what you should be doing given your latest ridiculous stunt.”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you nimbly trying to change the subject, dear doctor.”

“As you’ve pointed out, it’s the middle of the night. Let’s not do this now,” Hugh countered. “Let’s get you back into bed.” Hugh watched as Paul stood up from where he’d been leaning against the edge of the door. He was flexing his left hand again, standing stiffly.

“Stop looking at me like a patient,” Paul grumbled.

“Are you in pain?”

“Not really. Come back to bed with me?”

“Let me just grab the heating pad,” Hugh said, leaving the bathroom and heading for the extensive stash of medical paraphernalia he had built up in their living room. Paul trailed behind him, tucking himself under Hugh’s arm when he stopped at the table. “You’re very snuggly this evening.”

“Perk of having you near,” he mumbled into Hugh’s shoulder. 

“Come on, back to bed.” Hugh wasn’t sure he would sleep but Paul needed all the rest she could get. 

It still took some maneuvering to get Paul settled and comfortable on a raised bank of pillows, the heating pad wrapped around the injured area. When he was finally cocooned, Hugh realised that he had been caught in a nefarious plan. “You’ve trapped me on purpose, haven’t you?”

“Yes. Now try and sleep.”

“Paul…” 

“Or we can talk about the nightmares.” 

There was something reassuring about the dark; about having Paul’s Head resting on his shoulder, his gentle weight holding him down. Hugh sighed, staring into the darkness, stroking Paul’s shoulder and wondering how he should begin. “It’s like I’m trapped,” he began hesitantly. 

“I’m in the network, but I’m not. I _know_ it’s the network but everything’s different. It’s like I’m trapped on the wrong side of the mirror, watching what’s happening in the real world. I can see but I can’t touch, I can’t communicate with you all, no matter what I try. I just have to watch…” He didn’t want to put into words what it was he saw. What happened to Paul and the others while he was helpless to do anything but observe in growing horror.

Hugh didn’t realise that he was crying at first, focussing on the weight of Paul’s head and the patterns he was tracing in his chest.

“I’m here and I love you,” Paul said quietly. It was a statement of fact, not an exhortation that everything would be fine and that was more reassuring than anything. 

They lay there in peaceful silence until, just as Paul’s frame was relaxing further into sleep Hugh whispered, “Please don’t do that again… I… I need you to look after yourself.” He rushed on, “There’ll always be risks but I can’t bear the thought of…”

Paul shifted slightly, turning his head to kiss the exposed skin of Hugh’s neck. “No unnecessary risks,” he said quietly. “That works both ways though. I’ve grieved you once and I have no intention of doing it again.” 

“I love you so much it hurts,” Hugh admitted into the dark.

After a moment and seeming out of the blue Paul said, “Let’s just lie here forever. We’ll stay in bed and eat ice cream. Just you and me and the covers for company.” 

Hugh chuckled unexpectedly. “You’d get ice cream all over the sheets.”

“And then you’d have to divorce me,” Paul replied with a smile. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea after all.”

“Let’s just try not to get ourselves killed for a bit and we can revisit staying in bed forever later.”

“Plan,” Paul agreed gently. “That’s our plan.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading - please feed the author!  
> LHA x  
> @LHA_again


End file.
